AUS-A vs IND-A: KL Rahul flops as opener in Melbourne, falls for 4

KL Rahul's return as an opener for India-A against Australia-A in Melbourne was marked by an early dismissal for just 4 runs, adding to his recent batting woes. India-A faced a tough start, with Michael Neser's 4 wickets in session 1 leaving them in big trouble.

In Short

• Rahul was dismissed by Scott Boland for 4 runs
• India-A suffered a batting collapse early on
• India-A went into lunch at 65 for 5

KL Rahul's return as an opener for India-A in the second unofficial Test against Australia-A in Melbourne ended in disaster as the batter was dismissed for just 4 runs on November 7, Thursday. Rahul, who was part of the India squad for the series against New Zealand, was roped in to the squad in Australia.

The move was made to provide Rahul and Jurel with some game time before the first Test of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Perth. Rahul had only played the first Test against New Zealand, and despite backing from the management, was dropped for the matches in Pune and Mumbai owing to his poor form with the bat. Rahul was out for scores of 0 and 12 in the Bengaluru Test and the ongoing game in Melbourne was going to be crucial for him.

Given that Rohit Sharma is unlikely to play the Perth Test, the India batter had a chance to shine and get himself the opener's spot, where had scored 2551 runs in his career. India-A's start on Thursday was far from ideal as they found themselves in trouble in the first over.

Michael Neser would dismiss Abhimanyu Easwaran and Sai Sudharsan off consecutive deliveries to leave the visitors 4 for 2 after the first over. Rahul started his innings with a delightful boundary off Scott Boland, but the happiness for the fans was short-lived as the Indian batter would be dismissed in the 3rd ball of the over, which left India-A in complete disarray at 11 for 3.

Neser would claim his third wicket in the form of captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, whose poor form in Australia with the bat continued after his twin failures in the first unofficial Test.

Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel would steady the ship for India-A with a 53-run stand in Melbourne. Padikkal scored a controlled innings of 26 from 55 balls but was dismissed by Neser just before lunch. Jurel would hold the fort at the other end as India-A went into lunch at 65 for 5 with Nitish Kumar Reddy also at the crease. Jurel had remained unbeaten on 24 runs.